Tony Martin to get royal protection on leaving prison

By Daniel Foggo

12:01AM BST 06 Jul 2003

Detectives from the Royal Protection Squad have been called in to guard the jailed farmer Tony Martin on his release later this month.

Officers from Sandringham, the Queen's home in East Anglia, have been assessing the security risks of Martin returning to Bleak House, his isolated farmhouse in the Norfolk village of Emneth Hungate, 56 miles from Sandringham.

They consider it such a risk that Martin, who has had a £60,000 bounty placed on his head by friends of the gypsy he killed breaking into his home, has been told it is not safe enough to have a "trial release" in preparation for his parole.

Under such a scheme, Martin would have been let out for a few days to prepare for life outside prison at least three weeks before his eventual release. Officers considered that this trial - which is standard practice for prisoners about to be released - was an excessive security risk.

On leaving prison, it is now expected that he will not return to Bleak House for some time. A Royal Protection Squad source said: "We have done a survey of the vulnerability of Bleak House and it does not look good."

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Martin was jailed for murder in April 2000 for shooting dead the 16-year-old burglar Fred Barras and wounding his accomplice Brendon Fearon, although his conviction was later downgraded to manslaughter on appeal. He was refused early parole earlier this year after being dubbed a continuing risk to burglars by probation officers but must be released this month as he will have served two thirds of his sentence.

The possible move was hinted at by Norfolk's Chief Constable Andy Hayman to guests at a social gathering last weekend. The farmer's solicitor, James Saunders, said yesterday that he knew of no plans to bring Martin out early. "It was a very odd thing for a chief constable to say," he said.

When informed by this newspaper of the Royal Protection Squad's involvement in Martin's security, Mr Saunders said, tongue in cheek: "That is reassuring."

He added: "He is a farmer and they are used to looking after people who want them there. What are they going to do, live with him in Bleak House? That will be a shock to the system. If we had basic policing in the beginning it would have worked out cheaper and better."

Martin, speaking from prison via his spokesman Malcolm Starr, said yesterday: "As far as I am concerned I am going to be released on July 28."

Mr Starr added: "I can only assume the Chief Constable's comments were a reference to a trial release, which was stopped because the security problems were too great."